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From the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, comes an outrageous sequel to 2014's South Park: The Stick of Truth.

Don't Forget To Bring A Buddy - A Look At South Park: Fractured But Whole's Allies

by Kyle Hilliard

Buddies are an important part of South Park: The Fractured But Whole. They are your combat party, they move the story along as you do your silent protagonist thing, and they help you explore the environment. Buddies were also an important part of The Stick of Truth, but Ubisoft San Francisco is working to expand their roles for the sequel in a number of ways. "We wanted to get more of the buddies voices and their powers in there," says senior producer Jason Schroeder.

The simplest way that the buddy's role is being increased is in sheer numbers. This time around, there are 12 buddies, as opposed to Stick's six. We don't know the full list of buddies yet, but we do know Scott Malkinson as Captain Diabetes, Kyle as The Human Kite, Stan as Toolshed, Cartman as The Coon, Craig as Super Craig, Tweak as Wonder Tweak, and Jimmy as Fast Pass will all be buddies in the game. We've seen other heroes in assorted cutscenes, but these are ones we know will appear in your party, help you fight and navigate the environment, and be defined as buddies.

Each buddy has a power, which you can activate in certain locations in order to find hidden items, or complete sidequests. When you come across one of these locations, as long as you have completed the requirements for adding a particular buddy to your party, they will come calling as you need them without the need to rifle through menus or try out different buddies on different interactive elements. "We're trying to get it a little more in the natural exploration. A lot of the stuff that was the most compelling in Stick tended to be just the things you could do by yourself," Schroeder says. In Fractured, the team wants the buddies to be more active and present throughout.